🔗 Share this article Presidential Contender Claims Election Has Been 'Stolen' Tensions have run high as the lead changed hands several times. The moderate candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "corrupt people" of tampering with the vote count in the Central American nation. Over a week after the election, the electoral council has yet to announce a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead. Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "This is a robbery." The left-wing candidate placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election. Narrow Results and Growing Unrest With the vast majority of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, per the election body's update. Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods. Representatives of the CNE attributed the delays to "IT issues." They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "irregularities" still need to be reviewed. Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists." "We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but the United States will not be wasting resources, because a poor choice can only bring catastrophic results," Trump added. In a unexpected action two days before the election, Trump also pardoned jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is from the same party as Asfura. Hernández was in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine. His pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US. Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Interference At the same time, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly. Trump claimed the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on. "They will face severe consequences," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud. Ever since the Trump-endorsed Asfura took the lead, it has been his two rivals alleging misconduct. Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "complete cancellation" of the elections. It also called on its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States." Nasralla pointed the finger at unnamed "bad actors" for "delaying the counting process." Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.